Welcome to Nockatunga Station

But Zima had seen and the horror of it flooded her mind, pushed her to the very brink of insanity. The alien’s proboscis gently brushed Zima’s lips, a waft of his scent filled her nostrils, exuding calm, exuding happiness, banishing concern, banishing fear, banishing worry. Banishing the horror of that screaming dead woman as the things chewed and clawed their way out of her now still body.

“Relax, Zzzzzima,” the alien crooned, “relax now, hozzzzt mother of Buzz’s children. Carry them for him to zzzafety, give birth to them for him, Zzzzzima. He zzzzhal think of you, he zzzhall remember you, feed the children well for him.” The crooning hum of his voice and that wafting scent reinforced his words. Within her head, Zima smiled as the horror dissipated, even though her face remained frozen. She waited, patiently, relaxed in the knowledge that this was for Buzz.

“He picked you for thizzzz, Zima,” the alien hummed. “Buzz picked you for one of his hozzzzt motherzzzz. You, Zima.” He breathed into Zima’s nostrils, his proboscis pricked her neck, warmth and a golden glow flooded through her.

She knew. She was doing this for Buzz. For Buzz’s children. She was meant to be their host mother. Protecting then, cherishing them within her body. Feeding them as they grew. This was her role in life. This was everything for her now. Her life. Dedicated to Buzz’s children. For the rest of her life.

Zima was content.

The alien looked up. “Drezz her in her coveringzz and put her out in the corridorzz,” he instructed two of the others. “Zzpray her with the zzedative. Zztation Zzecurity will return her to her zzhip for uzz.”

He vanished from her sight. She smelt spray, then …. Blackness.

“Where the hell is Zima,” Wong asked over the com, standing on the dock by the entrance to the access tube. “Custom’s won’t clear us until she’s signed back on board. Said they’ve had too many spacers jumping ship over the last few weeks.”

“Fredricks is online with Station,” the Captain’s voice crackled back. “Got no choice here, they’re refusing undocking until she’s onboard. Anyhow, not leaving without her. She’s crew.”

“Station Police are bringing her in,” Fredricks reported back fifteen minutes later. “She was in the cells, found her wandering around. Drugs, they said. I paid the fine.”

“Not like her,” Wong shrugged. Until it happened. Spacers.

When they cut loose, they cut loose. God knows she did. She smiled at the memory. Those three guys. She’d showed them it wasn’t just Nockatunga girls that could tuck their feet behind their ears. She’d shown them a few other things too. God, those three, they’d been good. Weeks and months shipboard in the same confined space with the same people, it did that to you. That and jump space, you had to let off steam and she had and she felt great. She guessed Zima must’ve felt the same way, just, she’d overdone it a bit. Always the way when you locked it up inside the way Zima did. She’d learn.

“Sealing cargo access now,” the Captain said. “Get her onboard as soon as they drop her, we’re close to missing our window. Soon as the hatch is dogged, we’re undocking. Tugs are standing by.”

“Here she is.” Wong could see the Station Police shuttle coming through the loading bay access hatch. She didn’t look good, Station Security had to drag her out of the back of the shuttle. “Fuck, she’s a zombie, somebody come and give me a hand here.”

Wong tried, but Zima was deadweight and she was bigger than Wong. Zhu came down the tube, between them they got her into the lock. Dogged the hatch. Reported to the bridge.

“Hellraiser cleared for undocking,” Station responded.

Docking Control took over from there. Hellraiser was on her way.

“Strap her into her bunk, Wong,” First said as the tugs moved them out. “She can sleep it off. Need everyone at their stations. Roget, you’re on Nav.”

“Kay,” Roget responded, switching stations.

“What’s wrong with her?” Zhu asked Wong as they dragged Zima up ship to her bunk.

“Fucked if I know,” Wong said. “Fredricks said Security said drugs.”

They both looked down at Zima as they laid her down on her bunk, strapped her in. “She looks like a frigging zombie.”

Zima could see them through a fog. She could hear them through a haze. Her mind screamed for her mouth to work, to say something. Anything. Nothing happened. Her mind struggled weakly through that fog but her body was no longer hers. Even her eyes were frozen, staring up at the ceiling unmovingly as Wong and Zhu left her. Inside her head, calmness fading slowly through the relaxing glow that still held her mind in a haze, Zima began to experience fear. What was happening to her? But she knew, she knew, she was beginning to remember now what she’d done, what had been done to her, what she’d seen in that Halloween Party from Hell and that was even worse.

Because now she knew what was happening inside her body.

She knew there was absolutely nothing she could do.

Host. That was what Buzz had said. Host.

She was host to Buzz’s babies.

Something moved inside.

It felt strangely good.

Zima whimpered.

In her head.

Unheard.

Clang-thunk! The access tube unlocked. Crash! Nockatunga Station grapples let go, withdrew from the ship. All that held Hellraiser to the Station now were their own mooring grapples clamped to the docking boom. A green light on the board. A voice. Nockatunga accented.

“Arvo mate, you buggers ’re looking ripper for nicking off.”

“What?” The Captain and Fredricks looked at each other. “Repeat please,” the Captain said.

“No worries, mate,” the voice said. ”Ya pommie ratbags’re cleared to fuck off outa here.”

“Does that mean we’re cleared for departure?” the Captain asked, exuding patience.

“No dramas, mate,” the voice said. “Bloody oath. Course you’re cleared, wouldn’t be here playing silly buggers with ya if ya weren’t. Now will ‘ya stop playing around and fuck off. Got another one wants to fuck off outa here right after you drongo’s. Tell ya mate, I’m flat out like a lizard drinking right now, half the fucking sheila’s on the shift haven’t shown up. Bloody bunch of skiving ratbags.”

“Ahh, yes,” the Captain said, shaking his head.

First laughed. “Releasing Hellraiser grapples,” he said, flicking the switches. That Keagan, she’d banged like a dunny door alright. All frigging week. He could hardly walk. Feet behind her ears hadn’t been the half of it. He’d have to look her up next time they came through. Man could settled down on a place like Nockatunga if all the sheila’s were like Keagan. Fuck, yeah! Worth thinking about.

“Docking Control, this is Hellraiser. We’re all yours,” the Captain said.

“Righto Hellraiser, Docking Control has you. Moving you out now.” A slight jar. External displays showed Hellraiser separated from Station.

“Power up,” Scotty came over the com. Main engines began to hum, a hum that travelled through the ship. It’d be another half hour before they were far enough from the station to move under the main engines but better safe than sorry.

“Condition nominal,” First said, running through ship checks.

“System schematics on main display,” Roget said. The usual departure routine now, except Roget was filling in for Zima on Nav.

“Engines nominal,” Scotty reported. “Thrust at fifty percent, everything’s green.”

“Passing Marker One,” Roget was tracking Hellraiser’s position.

“Thrust to sixty percent,” the Captain said.

“Thrust to sixty percent, aye,” Scotty came back moments later.

“Coms,” the Captain said. “Send. Hellraiser departing system. Tell them thanks for the party.” He waited for Fredricks to send. “Anyone checked on Zima?”

“She was out,” Wong said. “Strapped her into her bunk. Let her sleep it off. She’ll have the hangover from hell when she wakes up.” She laughed. “Must’ve been some party she had.”

“Serves her right,” the Captain said. “She should know better than that. Call me if there’s anything, First.”

“Will do, Captain.”

The lightspeed flare of an incoming jump-ship flashed on the displays. Alarms howled on Hellraiser’s bridge. Proximity alarms. Collision alarms.

“She’s not dumping,” First hit the high grav maneuvers alarm. Locked down his crash chair fast and then the wave front hit them and he knew the incoming jump ship wasn’t far behind because he hadn’t detected any dumps yet and he should’ve, almost right away. He hadn’t? Fuck!

Fuck, indeed. He hit the red button. Klaxons’ blared. Fuck all use but you did what you could. Shut the vanes down, cut power, boost shielding, secure all hatches, lock down everything that could be locked down.

“Ship, this is First. Out of control jump ship incoming from jump point. Lock it down everyone.” Which meant if you were taking a crap and you were half done, you didn’t wait. You dived for the nearest crash pad, strapped in, and cleaned up your shit afterwards. Either that or you got cleaned up afterwards if something had gone wrong. Didn’t matter whose fault it was. Space was merciless.

The incoming ship passed them at close to light speed, enough C that even in the emptiness of space, Hellraiser felt it, shuddering at the blast and god alone knew what damage that did to her. By the time the displays showed what was happening it was history and Hellraiser still existed.

First lifted a shaking hand to the boards, hit the release. Alarms died. “Check ship for damage,” First said. “Captain to the bridge.” Not that he needed to say that. Captain’d be halfway here by now.

“Crazy frigging aliens,” the Captain snarled as the Hunter ship raced on in-system. “Station’s gonna go ballistic on them. We got an I.D?”

“Vvvvarp, that’s what systems is reporting.”

“Who the fuck are they?”

First shrugged. “No idea, never run into them before.” Not that that was unusual. The compact held a half a thousand different species, no-one was familiar with them all. Maybe a xeno specialist but Hellraiser was a jump-ship, a trader, not a frigging university specializing in alien studies.

“Natural childbirth advocates?” Chief of Station Security Peterson shrugged. “Don’t see anything wrong with that, sport. Nothing illegal about natural childbirth, not here anyhow.” He turned to Hanson, beside him. “Am I missing something, or is it the translation software again?”

“Dunno, boss,” Hanson said. “How about I get O’Connor in to work on it, he’s much better with the translation comp than I am.”

“Yeah, okay,” Peterson nodded. “You do that and take off, Hanson. Enjoy the date.”

“Will do, boss. And it’s a massage, not a date.”

“Whatever, Hanson.”

“Now, Apizzzzzz, sorry about this, we’re not getting a good translation here. Can we start again?”

“Izzzzzzz urgeeeeeent …. Emergenzzzzzzzy …” Hive Guardian(?) Apizzzz was buzzing wildly. “Egggzzzzzz … criminalzzzzzz eggzzzzzzz layzzzzzzz sentientzzzzzzz beingzzzzzz. Zzzzizzzz not permitted.”

“Yes yes yes, we got that,” Peterson said, very patiently. “We know that’s how you reproduce, sentient beings do that too, we know that, but where’s the problem here? Nothing wrong with laying eggs if that’s the way you do it.” He looked around. “Come on in O’Connor, can you recalibrate the translation comp, it’s not making much sense here.”

“Sure thing boss, won’t take long.”

Hanson tingled everywhere as Buzz’s hands massaged and stroked and worked her everywhere at once. She smiled blissfully, burying her face in his silky hair, lying on him, inhaling that warm summer scent. Buzz’s massages were better than sex. Sex with Buzz was better than anything and she knew he’d give her what she wanted. He seemed to know, his shaft throbbed within her, somehow he seemed to caress her sex without even touching her with his fingers.

“Ohhhhhh,” Hanson’s sigh morphed into a moan of pleasure. “Buzz, you’re amazing.” She smiled. “I wish I could have your babies….”

A wave of summer scented sunlight and fresh hay washed across her. “Some wishes can be granted,” Buzz hummed, his long tongue sliding across Hanson’s neck, tasting, feeling.

There?

Hanson felt a slight prick, then a warm lethargic pleasure. The presence of another alien behind her, above her, now that was no surprise to her, merely added pleasure as more hands caressed her, as fingers toyed with her sphincter, as Buzz’s shaft moved inside her, pleasure flooding her. As something small slid into her anal passage and burrowed higher, slowly expanding within her, a delicious double penetration that had her shivering with pleasure.

“Oh yezzzzz, Hanzzzzzon,” Buzz hummed, “your wish will be granted.”

“Uuughhhhhh,” Hanson jerked as her sphincter muscles began to be stretched. “Ughhhhhh.”

It was good, it was all good and she moaned and groaned and writhed in pleasure between Buzz and the Hive Queen as the first egg was laid within her body. There would be more, another half dozen and Hanson would take them all.

Buzz crooned in her ear as the Hive Queen laid that last egg, crooned as he turned her, inserted his own shaft in her anal channel, caressed and held her as he bathed the Hive Queen’s eggs in his own emissions, coating them and fertilizing them as his hands brought Hanson to one long orgasmic climax. At the peak of that climax, the Hive Queen entered Hanson’s sex, opening her, distending her, laying the penultimate egg, the princess egg, in Hanson’s now receptive womb.

A womb already flooded with Buzz’s emissions, prepared for what it was about to receive. Prepared for the princess egg. Larger than the others, Hanson dilated, dilated more, her eyes wide, face strained, writhing under the onslaught of Buzz’s hands, his silky hair and the flooding pheromones, writhing in pleasure as the Hive Queen gently worked the princess egg into the host’s receptive body.

“ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.” The Hive Queen hummed her pleasure as the egg was finally expelled, safe now within the host, crooning her satisfaction, her song resonating within Hanson’s mind, resonating with the pleasure Hanson was experiencing.

“Ooooohhhhh …ohhh … ohhh …ohhhh,” Hanson juddered through another mindless orgasmic climax, her sex spasming and convulsing on the alien’s ovipositor as it shrank rapidly, as it withdrew from her. Her womb spasmed and convulsed on the egg it now contained, those muscular contractions initiating the developmental process.

“Oh yezzzzz, Hanzzzzzon,” Buzz hummed, his proboscis searching for the spot on the alien skull where the sting must be inserted to reach the right spot in the brain. Precision was everything and the first injection of venom needed to be in exactly the right spot. “You will host my babies for me….”

White fire exploded inside Hanson’s head, overwhelming every synapse in her nervous system in one long eternity of mindless anguish and agony. It was gone as fast as it had arrived and now she felt nothing. Her eyes stared up at the compartment ceiling as her mind gibbered at her sudden inability to move. There was that full feeling within her body, an uncomfortable fullness. The Hive Queen looked down at her, those huge multi-faceted eyes reflecting images a thousand times.

“Good,” the Hive Queen hummed, “this host will be good for my last princess. The natural way is still the best for the Hive.” Two of her hands caressed Hanson’s now slightly distended belly. “Ship the host out immediately, we must move quickly, the Guardians hunt us, curzzzze them.”

The ceiling moved as Hanson was lifted, placed in a shipping container, secured, drips connected to her veins. Taped on. After what seemed to her to be an endless wait, another rack was added above her, another body placed inches above hers. Inside her head, Hanson screamed in terror. Another body, then another.

A face? One of the aliens peering down at them. At her. An approving buzz. “These hosts will serve the hive well. Ship them out now, before the Hive Guardianzzzz can find them.” The container’s top folded down, latched, locked. Hanson saw only darkness, heard only her own frantic screams, contained inside her head as the eggs were contained within her body.

“Yeah, this is the warehouse compartment those alien fuckers was leasing.” Zulu One Alpha tucked his comp into its pouch. “Let’s check it out, boys.”

“Station Security Inspection. Station Security Inspection. Coming in. Coming in.” The security override unlocked the compartment, Zulu One Charlie forced the hatch. Zulu One Bravo was first in. Zulu One Delta followed him in, tucked right on his ass.

“Compartment empty.”

“Check the storage compartment through back there.”

“Jesus Christ, what the fuck is this? What the fuck are those?”

“Fuck me dead, spray the fuckers, come on move it move it move it…”

“Bodies. We have bodies. Paramedics …. Paramedics …. This is Zulu One Alpha, we have a medical emergency, I repeat medical emergency…. Jesus … jesus .., aaaahhhhhh …aahhhhhh get them off me … gettehoffgetthemoff … ahhhhhaaahhhhahhhhhhh.”

“Zulu One, Zulu One, sitrep. Give me a sitrep.”

“The sprays not working … Jesus, they’ve swarmed him … get the fuck outa here … declaring Code Red Code Red Code Redaaaahhhhh fuck they’re fucking bugs …giant fucking alien wasps …. aaahhhhhaahhhhhhthey got me they got me spray them …aaaahhhhhh aaaahhhhhhhh….”

“Spray’s not working … back off …back off .. use the flamers …flamethefuckersaaaahhhh .. aaaaahhhhh…aaahhhhhhh.”

“Station Alert, Station Alert, Security Team Down, Security Team Down, Bug infestation, Section Three Alpha Delta Four Zero. Locking down Section Three Alpha Delta Four Zero. Locking down Section Three Alpha Delta Four Zero, Code Red. Code Red. Biological Emergency on Station. Biological Emergency on Station. Code Red. Code Red. All units respond. All units respond. Code Red. Code Red…”

“On the mark,” Roget reported, sitting in on Nav. Filling in at Zima’s usual seat.

“Maximum boost,” the Captain said. “Maximum boost reached.” He stretched. Checked the displays. Took a lot longer boosting up to jump speed than it did to lose that velocity coming in. Four more days of this before they could translate out, boosting all the way.

“All boards Green,” Engineering reported. “Systems nominal.”

The Captain stretched again. “Alternate shifts on the boards, four on, four off. You have control, First.”

“I have control,” First said. “Port watch on duty. Starboard watch stand down.”

In her bunk, Zima was all too conscious now. She would have screamed if she could’ve. Inside her head, she did scream. Again and again. Inside her body, she could feel them, feel the eggs inside her, pressing against her insides where she hosted them, an uncomfortable pregnant fullness within her anal passage and within her uterus. One of them had already hatched, she’d felt it, felt it emerge from the egg, felt it crawl higher inside her. She could feel it inside her now, moving. Gnawing at her. The venom held her, in stasis, frozen, unable to move a single muscle. Unable to move, but no longer numb.

The venom no longer anesthetized her completely.

There was pain. Not only pain, but also the knowledge of what was happening, the horror, the inability to move despite those shooting twinges, despite those little stabs of sudden agony. Not even her eyelids could flicker. Not even her eyes could move. Her heart beat slowly, regularly, her breathing was steady, both outside of her control now. Everything except her mind outside of her control.

Soon, soon the other eggs would hatch, the things inside her would grow, burst forth from her body as she’d seen them burst forth in that room in the Station. They’d burst out and then they’d devour her. Final moments of horror and of agony before they grew large enough to survive without her. She’d be dead by then. She hoped she’d be dead, because the pain was worse now. A lot worse. A further moment of horror as another of them moved. Emerging from the egg inside her, shattering the shell, sharp pain within her body as something clawed its way out.